1965 Chevy Corvette - Flamethrower

You've heard stories about how someone buys someone else's project, and what follows is horror story after horror story, including misrepresented, mismatched, or missing parts, frames of questionable integrity, fiberglass repair work done with cut-up Budweiser cartons as backing (and the content of those cartons as . . . well, never mind!) and paint schemes that are a horror story, not only in design but also execution. (Which should have happened to the designer and painter -Ed.)

2/10

This Corvette is none of the above, even though when Gary Ricketts bought it, it had been someone else's project. A long-time Corvette lover and street rodder, back in the mid-'90s he had a '30 Model A Ford with a supercharged small-block Chevy engine that he was looking to sell, and he had a potential buyer. Around that time, Gary went to the Super Chevy Show at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania-an easy trip from his Mannington, New Jersey home-and he spotted a '65 Sting Ray coupe for sale in the show's swap meet. "The owner was out of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and he had another guy selling it for him," Gary recalls. "So, I looked at it and I said, 'This is my next project-I've got to have this car!'"

Gary got the contact information for the '65's owner, then a couple of weeks later he sold the Model A-minus engine. "He wanted another blower motor in it, we made a deal, and I kept my blower motor," says Gary of the first phase of his project changeover. "As soon as he pulled out with the Model A, I called down to where the Corvette's owner was and found out that car was still available." Soon after, that Midyear was in Gary's garage. "It had a big-block motor in it," he says. "I sold the big-block, because I knew I was going to complete the Pro Street theme with my blower motor."

You heard right-Gary's '65 had already been modified to fit big rubber inside its stock body profile. The frame had been narrowed in the rear, and large wheel tubs replaced the original Sting Ray rear wheelwells. Says Gary of the remainder of the mechanical work needed to complete this Pro Street-flavored Vette Rod, "I did everything on that car, other than the back half on it." That included swapping in the Daryl Fithian-built engine from his Model A, a 350-inch small-block that had been bored 0.030-inch and fitted with TRW pistons on GM steel connecting rods, a GM steel crank, a Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft, and a Weiand 6-71 supercharger with a pair of Endurashine-plated 600-cfm Edelbrock four-barrel carburetors on top. The blown 355-incher also received an MSD 6AL ignition system, Hooker Headers with 17/8-inch primary tubes and 3-inch collectors, and a 21/2-inch aluminized-steel exhaust system with Turbo Tube mufflers.

Del Trans in Newark, Delaware, built the manual/automatic shift Turbo 400 with a 10-inch, 3,000-rpm-stall torque converter and B&M shifter. Why not a Muncie or other manual gearbox? Gary says, "Because you only have nine or ten seconds in the quarter-mile, you can't shift that fast!"

The '65's current color scheme is far from the color black that was applied after it was finished and kept on it for about six years, until Gary decided he wanted something different. For the look you see here, he turned to painter Fred Green-and to his own son Steve. "My son laid out those flames," says Gary of the part of the '65's build that he really loves. "He's very much the artist, very much the painter. Back then, he was doing artwork for tattoos and doing small work laying out flames and artwork on motorcycle fenders and gas tanks." This would be his first car, and Gary told Steve that he wanted him to lay out the flames on the Sting Ray's body (which by then had been painted PPG Metallic Silver by painter Green.) "After it was set and ready to go, my son went in the paint booth and in about four hours, he laid out those flames by hand," Gary recalls. "Then, Fred came back with three coats of the Apple Red from House of Kolor, and he went over that silver with three coats."

MORE PHOTOS

While underway, Gary can keep tabs on his small-block's fuel pressure and the 6-71's boost with these AutoMeter gauges.

A Weiand 6-71 blower tops the 355-inch small-block that Gary swapped out of a previous street rod project. The hood on Gary's '65 opens from the front, giving the engine compartment a different perspective. Not seen here is the hood's '67-style Stinger. Custom underhood panels by Phil Scarfo carry the flame motif under the hood.

Corbeau racing buckets not only add the Pro Street look to the '65's interior, they're also comfortable to cruise in.

Other than the added AutoMeter coolant temperature gauge, the dash of Gary's '65 Sting Ray is stock. The steering wheel has a 14-inch chrome center.

When Gary bought his '65, the rear framerails had already been moved inboard and big wheel tubs and a narrowed 9-inch rearend installed-both of which Gary kept. Wheels are polished American Racing Torq-Thrusts.